Top 10 Must See Sites in Tibet

Tibet! When I thought of Tibet before I visited, I thought mostly of the Dalai Lama and monks and monasteries. I didn’t know much about the culture or the political climate. And when we hear Tibet, we think it almost is its own country. While it technically is a province of China, Tibet truly is a unique place to see with your own eyes as it is a much different place than the rest of China. To me, it really was its own country.

Getting to Tibet can be challenging. The Chinese government requires that all foreign visitors (non-Chinese) must obtain a special Tibet Entry Permit to enter Tibet. Even if you have a Chinese visa, you will need to obtain a separate entry permit to enter Tibet. And I even found that if you have a Chinese visa like I have, you must enter Tibet from another Chinese city and cannot enter from another country like Nepal or you will have your Chinese visa voided.

The best way to visit Tibet is with a tour group or private guide. I certainly am not a fan of tour groups but there certain locations in the world where having a tour group is necessary and even much easier. Tibet is one of those locations.

I used Tibet Vista. The company is located in Lhasa and they offer many different types of tour packages for smaller groups. As part of the package, they will make all the arrangements for your Tibet Entry Permit along with your hotel and entry to the main attractions. After going through all the checkpoints and security checks, it makes perfect sense to have a guide.

Tibet is a large area and I wanted to see more than just visiting Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. I chose to do a seven day tour from Lhasa to Kathmandu, which included seeing Mount Everest! By doing this tour, I found out just how large Tibet actually is. Half of the trip was spent in Lhasa with a larger group of 10 people and the other half was spent in a mini-van with three other people.

I would highly recommend this tour for the fact that you see much more than Lhasa, including Mount Everest. Lhasa is certainly unique, but the landscapes across Tibet is worth the time. Mount Everest was one of those moments in life that you will remember forever. And the drive from the China-Nepal border to Kathmandu is one that I will never forget. It was one of the craziest drives I have ever made.

Below are my Top 10 highlights from my seven day tour across Tibet.

Drepung Monastery (Lhasa)

This is the largest of the Tibetan monasteries and it is perched up on the mountainside overlooking the city of Lhasa. The views are spectacular. The monastery was founded in the 15th century and was once the largest monastery in the world housing nearly 10,000 monks at one time. The Chinese burned down nearly half of the monastic village in 1951 and has lost much of its independence and spiritual credibility in the eyes of Tibetans since Chinese security forces keep it under close watch.

Sera Monastery (Lhasa)

The most interesting part about this monastery north of Lhasa is between 2pm-4pm when the young monks come out into the courtyard to debate. They debate in pairs. One monk will sit down while the other stands and can ask any question of the sitting monk. They have a friendly debate about the Buddhist teachings to help them learn. It was extremely hot on this day when we visited in late June.

Potala Palace (Lhasa)

This palace dominates the city of Lhasa and sits mostly in the center atop a hill. This palace was once the home of all the Dalai Lama’s including the current (14th) Dalai Lama until he fled to India during the 1959 Tibetan uprising. Today it is a museum and World Heritage site. The structure is enormous and impressive. There are numerous checkpoints and the grounds have a strict dress code. Many political figures visited the Dalai Lama in this building before he fled. It certainly is a must see in Lhasa.

Take a look at this video of the beautiful city of Lhasa.

Yamdrok Lake

This is one of the three largest sacred lakes in Tibet. It is turquoise in color and is extremely pure. Many locals bring yaks down to the waterfront to allow tourists to take photos of them (for a fee). It wasn’t much and the views were stunning. All Tibetans make a pilgrimage to the lake as it is said to be the life-spirit of Tibet. aks and Tibetan dogs.

Karola Glacier

On the route from Lhasa to Shigatse, we passed the Karola Glacier which was very close to the road which allowed us to walk up close to stunning site. It was the peak of summer so the snow on the ground had melted leaving the beautiful glacier exposed. Small waterfalls came down the side of the mountain for a spectacular site.

Tashi Lhunpo Monastery (Shigatse)

This monastery was founded in the 15th century by the first Dalai Lama and is one of the more culturally important monasteries in Tibet. We were lucky to have visited during the once a year, three-day Monastery festival that dates back over 500 years where they unveil the thangka, which is an oversize Tibetan Buddhist silk painting scrolled up for the entire year, against a huge wall. Each day they unveil a different diety. Day one is the Buddha of the past. Day two is the Buddha of the present. And day three is the Buddha of the future. It was a special ceremony to be a part of where all Tibetans in the region celebrate outside the walls of the monastery over the course of the three days.

Gyatso La mountain Pass

This is the highest mountain pass roads in China at 5,220 meters (17,125 feet) above sea level. It marks the entry into the Everest National Park and is the highest point on the Friendship Highway between China and Nepal. Ironically, it doesn’t really snow in this area as the area is flat and the weather is such that snow doesn’t form in that area. It was very hard to breath here as the elevation is higher than the Everest Base Camp in Tibet.

Take a look at this video of the journey from Lhasa to Mount Everest.

Mount Everest (Tibet side)

The world’s tallest mountain standing at 8,848 meters (29,029 feet). When we arrived on the Rongbuk glacier around 7pm in the evening, clouds had covered Mount Everest allowing for small glimpses of the peak off in the distance. But as we waited, the clouds began to disperse and exactly at sunset, the entire summit could be clearly seen from where we were standing. I get chills writing about it as I can’t believe I was looking at the world’s tallest summit. I had seen the summit a week earlier out of my airplane window, but I knew a week later I would be on the ground, standing and looking at the colossal site. Take a look at the video I took at Mount Everest.

Gorgeous. Stunning. Breathtaking. The pinks and blues of the sunset sky appeared around the rugged, snow-capped peak. It was certainly hard to breath as we were standing at 5,200 meters (17,060 feet) above sea level. It was hard to believe I was at this altitude on solid ground. I had never been this high in my life other than inside of an airplane. I didn’t want to take my eyes off of it and our group stayed until the light began to go away and the temperature began to drop considerably. It was the coldest I had been the entire year.

The accommodations are certainly some of the strangest and unclean I have encountered on my trip. Our entire group stayed in the same room at guesthouse near the base camp. The bathroom had no doors on the areas to do your duty. In fact, it was a rectangular hole in the concrete. There was a men’s and women’s areas but since there were no doors, you could certainly see into the stall area when you walked through the blanket which was a makeshift door from the cold outside. But you aren’t coming here for the accommodations. You are here because you are seeing the tallest mountain in the world with your own eyes!

Rongbuk Monastery

Many people miss this hidden gem when they go to see Everest on the Tibet side. But this monastery is the highest monastery in the world and is located not that far from the Everest Base Camp. And my favorite part was going into a secret meditation cave under the monastery. It was so cool going down into this hole. But one of the best parts was that it was warm so it was a great place to warm up while we waited for the sun to go down at Mount Everest.

Friendship Highway from China-Nepal border to Kathmandu

This drive was probably one of my favorite parts of my global journey. It certainly wasn’t because of the smooth road, because it was the bumpiest nine hour drive I have ever had in my life. There were no smooth parts. I remember chatting with an English guy I met in Honiara, Solomon Islands, who motorbiked from Spain to Singapore and mentioned the Friendship Highway was not really accessible yet because of the earthquake that heavily damaged the road. They are in the process of rebuilding the road but it is complete mud and perched up on a mountain cliff for most of the drive. You will have to take a look at the video I created of this journey from the China-Nepal border to Kathmandu.

One of the most unique, muddy, steep, cliff drives I have ever been on. It is certainly not recommended if you get car or motion sickness (or afraid of heights)! I felt so alive like I was on an expedition.

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